cover image Flanimals Pop-Up

Flanimals Pop-Up

Ricky Gervais, , illus. by Rob Steen, paper engineering by Richard Ferguson. . Candlewick, $19.99 (14pp) ISBN 978-0-7636-4781-0

With trademark wit, British television star Gervais provides spicy commentary about the “useless and pointless” Flanimals, who appear for the first time as 3-D pop-ups. A toothy Mernimbler's arms open wide, the ill-behaved Grundit bounds after a vegetal Puddloflaj, and a spread about Flanimal evolution delivers a hilariously profane take on Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam , while mini-booklets detail additional Flanimal characteristics. Kids can get in on the mischief, too, helping a Hemel Sprot “get chewed to death and swallowed by [a] Sprot Guzzlor,” via pull-tab. Whatever they are, exactly, the Flanimals lend themselves well to the pop-up stage. Ages 5–up. (Mar.)